Life, an Underappreciated Gift
by rainbowrider1290
Summary: No one understands the value of life, until at one moment, it clicks into place and fear settles in, as this is normally when it's about to be lost. For our heroes, it was then when time froze as Ladybug let go of Chat Noir's hand, deopping into the glowing inferno of the burning building below. Edited version!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Well hi there! I'm very glad my summary caught your attention, and made you decide to click on this wonderful little piece of mine. I didn't really like how it came out last time, so I decided to go back and edit it. I'm much happier with it. Hopefully you are too!**

 **Disclaimer: Ha! I don't even want that kind of power.**

* * *

No one ever understands the value of life until they reach the threshold of death.

For her, that day was when she saw the fear in his eyes as he clung to her arm, claws desperately digging into her suit to protect her from the deadly fall below.

For him, it was the very concept of another loss in his life that drowned him in a wave of emotions long ago buried. The expression she wore said so much, but at the centre of the storm of emotions were the words: it's okay.

Time froze within a single moment for them, and despite the brave front they tried to maintain, they were afraid.

Now, for a full understanding of the story, one must go back to the decision that brought both of them to this spot of sheer terror. Not for themselves, but for the other.

* * *

This moment was, of course, the product of one of the fiercest fights they'd faced. A firefighter who had failed to save a little boy trapped in a burning building. The loss weighed on his heart because he had put so much trust in him to get him out. This was his little boy.

Of course, not wasting a second, Papillon saw an opportunity to make his most dangerous akuma yet. He wanted to test if Ladybug and Chat Noir could fight _fire with fire._ He was growing more and more desperate to the point of not caring if the heroes were dead or alive when the Miraculouses were retrieved.

Yes, emotions are a complicated thing, but that's a story for another day.

Ladybug and Chat Noir instinctively stepped in to fight this akuma who burned everything in his sight. Their decision to step within the first burning building, into the smoke was what brought them to this moment. Their decision to save was what brought them closest to their downfall they had ever been.

They dashed into the building, which seemed so close to crumbling, because they had seen the akuma jump in there already. Using their respective weapons, they launched themselves towards the roof, frantically scanning for anyone who might be trapped along the way.

The akuma was dangerously near the edge of the roof, looking down at the scorched city, feeling this power and anxious to use it on a living, breathing being, because _no one knows what they go through everyday, the terror covered up by a fearless front. The burden of those you cannot save. It burns one's sanity_.

As Ladybug and Chat Noir broke through the metal door to the roof, he immediately thought with a malicious smirk, channeling his burning anger, _make that two_.

The very second he thought the murderous three words, a wave of fire shot from the whip-like hose in the akuma's hands towards the two unsuspecting heroes. They had never faced an akuma with actual training on speed and strength, and if it weren't for their own training, they would have been scorched.

Without a word, Ladybug and Chat Noir worked in synchronization. A familiar pattern coming to their muscle memory no matter how dire their situation. Ladybug swung herself up from a metal pipe above the fire and attacked from the front. Chat Noir jumped out of the way and stealthily made his way to the back of the akuma.

"Hey, Fireboy! What happened? did Watergirl run off on you?" He shouted to anger the akuma some more. The rogue Firefighter turned around and without a word, sent an inescapable ocean of fire towards Chat Noir, who was already launching himself out of the way with his baton.

Ladybug took this opportunity to swing herself from the same metal pipe holding the Wi-fi router to slingshot herself straight towards the akuma.

 _The hose_ , she thought.

Ladybug swooped in from behind, planning to slide under the hose and trip the akuma with it, but the akuma's reflexes effortlessly sent a deadly ray of flames toward her, his focus never wavering from Chat Noir, shifting the source of the flames from one hero to another.

 _What kind of training do these guys get?_ Ladybug thought as she barely escaped the ray.

After multiple tries, it seemed like the firefighter had eyes all over, so she said the literally magic words:

"Lucky Charm!"

A large plastic water gun fell on her into her hands and she didn't have to think twice on what to do with it.

Well, I suppose I'm Watergirl.

She immediately started to spray the akuma, at which the akuma screamed and pulled back his hand. The water was burning him.

The akuma decided that the water was more important to fight than some stupid cat. What he didn't know, however, was that this stupid cat was not as stupid as he thought. Chat Noir launched himself off of his baton, and yanked the hose from behind, tearing at the thick material with his claws.

The akuma fluttered out of the torn hose, and Ladybug swung her yo-yo as soon as it came out, trapping it in its cleansing light. The yo-yo released the pristine white butterfly and Ladybug ran over to Chat to check out his burns. Her cleanse could wait, her partner could not. To her horror, half of her partner's face was a deep, dark red. A terrible burn covering half of his face as he looked at her with an expression mirroring her own. She supposed she must have looked similar as his hand twitched, but he looked afraid to touch her. She definitely felt the pain. However, he was able to crack a smirk.

"Well, I suppose today you were -"

"Don't you dare -"

"His -"

"No, no, _no_ -"

" _Watergirl_ … Weren't you?" He finished and Ladybug felt ashamed of of making that very same pun to herself. Despite everything, she laughed. Mustering up a reply, a loud crack was heard in the structure of the building. She had completely forgotten that there was a fire still burning below them. As soon as the crack was heard, her head snapped to her partner and the roof crumbled beneath her, the Lucky Charm falling into the depths of the fire.

Chat Noir's claws dug into what was left of the roof with one arm and to her arm with the other. Her fingers clasped tightly around his forearm. Both hearts stop for a moment.

This, my friends, is the moment they learn the value of life, so often taken for granted. The moment they truly absorb how much the other's life meant to them,

"Chat, I need to go after it!" She shouts above the roar of the threat below, seeing the Lucky Charm start to deform under the heat. Now, Chat Noir knows that she needs to, but he questions if a cleanse is worth the risk of losing her. He has no time to decide as her grip starts to loosen and before he knows it, he's screaming at the top of his lungs as she falls into the glowing inferno, her form shrinking as her final expression was engraved into his mind. _It's okay._

Ladybug lands with a crunch on the top floor of the crumbling building, frantically searching for the Lucky Charm. She looks up quickly, simply to check that her cat didn't follow her down.

The place is almost black with smoke, but she gets down on her knees anyway to look for a red and black spotted water gun. The irony.

She's coughing madly by the time she finds it. Deformed, mostly black, and all the water's gone, but it's definitely it. She latches her yo-yo onto an unseen object out of the flames, and begins to pull herself up. She doesn't see the floor beneath her completely collapse all the way down to the main floor of the apartment building as she soars through the air. She also doesn't see the wooden pole that was holding up most of the room swing towards her blind spot, taking her down with it and the rest of the building.

Chat Noir, looking up from above, sees it all. He witnesses her falling and the look of utter fear in her eyes. And with a look of determination, he makes his decision: _no. It's not okay._

He's diving down towards Ladybug before anyone can look twice. This was, however, not for much, as the moment they crash into the floor, with no time to even ask what they were thinking, the last support beam collapsed, releasing the crushing weight of the building on top of them.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: And here is the second part of the story. Any feedback, especially constructive criticism is greatly appreciated!**

 **Disclaimer: I wouldn't be on this site if it were so.**

* * *

Outside, a crowd was beginning to form. They all wondered why their heroes hadn't come out yet. Panic was beginning to infiltrate the hearts of the citizens of Paris as they waited for the last of the fire to be put out by the remaining firefighters. The akuma from the roof had been found in the rubble and taken into an ambulance. Disoriented about his own identity and surroundings until Ladybug performed her cleanse. At least Papillon has no control over him anymore. He still feels the pain, and he dread that something has gone _horribly wrong_.

That moment as the building came down, trapping both heroes beneath the rubble, everyone held their breath. Time slowed and no one dared to move a muscle. They all expected their heroes to fly out at the last second, so they could cheer for the fact that they had once again succeeded, but when that moment didn't come, Panic's cousin, Despair, decided to settle among them as well.

A grey mountain of metal, cement, wood, and ashes was left once the smoke cleared.

The amazing thing about this moment, though tragic, was that connection between the Parisians present and watching at home. It was a moment in which they were all able to relate to one another regardless of their differences. They were suddenly less important.

It started with one person.

Walking with such determination she was almost running toward the pile of rubble, an auburn-haired girl with black rimmed glasses made her way towards where everyone else was afraid to go simply because she couldn't bear to lose the beacon of hope that these two people were willing to become for others. A phone with a ladybug charm attached to it and a small crack on the screen was left abandoned on the spot from where she left.

A boy in a red cap and a blue t-shirt followed after being snapped out of his trance, because these two brought justice and freedom to everyone regardless of any danger that it posed to them.

Then slowly, more and more people trickled towards the rubble and began to lift what they could.

A girl with bright pink hair on roller skates, then a tall boy in a red shirt and jeans, then a small blonde in a pink shirt, followed by a girl with black hair with a purple streak. They went because they had been saved from themselves and any outer threat and they were infinitely greateful for the risks they were constantly taking.

The trickle turned from drops to a steady stream, to a full waterfall of people who deemed themselves indebted to the duo beneath the rubble.

Couples who had almost lost their children.

Police officers who swallowed their pride without a second thought and silently thanked the heroes for when they couldn't handle a certain case.

Teenagers who understood the dangers of their parents going missing and the injuries they might've sustained.

Parents who didn't want to imagine their own child soaring into the dangers of Paris.

Before long, all the other citizens were moving metal, rock, wood, and sweeping away the ashes to find their heroes. Their guardian angels that had earned the trust of the entire city. Police didn't even bother to put up their yellow tape or tell anyone to get back.

"They're here!" Someone yelled through the crowd, and they all ran towards the people who had been buried, covered in ashes and dust.

There lied Ladybug, a deformed red and black object in her hand, with Chat Noir's claws touching her, as if reaching out to her, but his leg caught under a large boulder. The people ached for them as they saw the burns on their blackened faces, arms, and legs. Their eyes closed in exhaustion, yet looking so peaceful in the midst of the bloosyained chunks of the building. A loud beep sounded, followed by another one. Their Miraculouses were counting down.

No one dared to check if they were still alive out of fear, except the paramedics nearby set in motion by the beeping. A pause took place as the verdict was decided.

"They're breathing! Everybody move!" Nobody needed to be told twice.

In a flash, people were running all over the place. They all froze momentarily when two sets of loud beeping came from their miraculous, but that only sped them up after their moment was over. They were on borrowed time, and their heroes had at least earned the right to keep their identities a secret. When the ambulance arrived, people dragged stretchers, others lifted, others recorded to keep those who were not there informed on the matter, only this time, there were no bothersome questions.

In record time, the heroes were in the nearest hospital, awaiting any treatments deemed fit.

No one saw what happened in the hospital, but they only saw the figures of their heroes leaping out of a window towards a location away from prying eyes.

Once they landed on a rooftop, Ladybug and Chat Noir paused. Then they simultaneously turned and threw their arms around each other so forcefully they were both tackled to the ground in their refusal to let go. They sobbed and laughed and tears fell from their eyes from the sheer impact of seeing their partner alive, panting out half-hearted reprimands for being so stupid and reckless.

They didn't pull away for quite a while, muttering statements of teary affection through the sobs of relief.

They held on and squeezed as if they were going to be pulled from them in an instant as a cruel joke. They stayed happily within the other's tight embrace past their transformation's limit, and until it fully sunk in that they were really there.

Then they decided to pull away in an unspoken agreement, as they both knew it was time. They had understood that there was no time for barriers between the people one loves most. There is no time available to waste in idle moments because it could end in a flash of regret.

So when they looked, and they _saw,_ their faces split and in a watery laughter, tears still spilling and simply went back into each other's arms as if it were the most comfortable home they had ever known. They need not say anything as it's all conveyed in the desperation of their embrace, the sincerity dripping from their sobs, and the relief laced within their laughter.

Besides, we all know what happens next.

* * *

 **A/N: Well, that's all from me, for now...**

 **Thanks again for reading!**

 **rainbowrider1290**


End file.
